The Cooking Oil Comparison Chart

You already know that Extra Virgin Olive Oil is good for you. But what do you choose when it’s time to branch out and try something new? There are a lot of cooking oils out there, and many have misleading health claims on the label. It can be a bit overwhelming when you walk down the oil aisle in the store.

Some oils are very healthful, others not so much — and for different reasons. How do you know what’s really important when choosing a cooking oil? And how do you keep track of them all?

Why, with The Cooking Oil Comparison Chart, of course!

I’ve teamed up with Andy Bellatti, MS, RD, to help answer these questions with this chart. (If you don’t already follow Andy, you’re missing out.) We’ve created a one-page, printable PDF that you can take with you to the grocery story (or stick up on your fridge), that will help guide you through the labyrinth of oils.

We focused on two main factors, healthfulness and temperature-sensitivity, since some oils lose their health benefits when heated. Using a grid that makes it easy to see where each oil falls on the spectrum, you’ll be able to tell at a glance which oils to use for your salad, and which to use for your next stir-fry — and which oils to avoid altogether. We’ve also included some secondary details about each oil, along with some important pitfalls to watch out for.

Andy has written a post on his blog explainingthe science behind our oil comparisons, so you’ll know why each oil is where it is on the chart. So click on over to Andy’s post to get the nitty-gritty, and then come back here and get the PDF.

If you’d like to share this chart on your own website or blog, please be respectful (and law-abiding) and share it simply by linking directly to this post. Please do not link directly to the PDF or copy the entire chart to your own site. You may use the image at the top of this post on your own page, if you like. Thanks!

—

PS – Huge thanks to Andy for jumping on board when I proposed this project to him. I had a ton of fun collaborating with him, and appreciate his enthusiasm and expertise!

Love that this chart highlights the issue of Omega-3 to Omega-6 ratio, as it’s not that well-known. I mostly use olive and high-oleic safflower oils, and avocado or macadamia nut when I have lots of extra cash (ha). My cardiologist says many of the studies about cocounut oil are funded by the coconut industry, so I’m still wary of its saturated fat content. But I get that for most healthy people, it’s a great oil. Wondering why organic, expeller-pressed canola isn’t higher on the healthy scale here. Thanks for another amazing chart, Andrew!

Also, expeller-pressing, while better than conventional extraction that uses hexane, can actually generate quite a bit of heat. Moreover, I’m pretty sure there isn’t a strict definition for “cold-pressed” — so the oils may actually get pretty hot in the process.

I just emailed with Andy about your question, and he also pointed out that “This is where it often comes down to personal beliefs. I always recommend “real” oils (olive, coconut, hemp, flax, etc.) over ones that aren’t consumed in their natural state. You can’t buy rapeseeds, or even eat them (they’re toxic).”

Great chart. One question. I see that palm and palm kernel oil is at the bottom of the chart, and thus generally to be avoided. But I’ve read conflicting information in recent weeks regarding these oils. In particular, the paleo crowd (e.g., Mark Sisson, the authors of the Perfect Health Diet) assert that palm oil (and perhaps palm kernel oil) is healthy. Would love to hear your response on this. Thank you!

Hi Trey! Clarifying butter removes the milk solids and leaves the fats in place, so it shouldn’t have much of an impact of the fat composition. So we think that it would score in the same spots on the chart.

With Palm Oil, environmental concerns aside, there isn’t much nutritional benefit with it that you can’t get elsewhere…and then you run into the refined/deodorized/bleached issues.

Hi Andrew, One thing I maybe missed was the effect that high heat levels have on oils. That’s important because from what I understand, taking an oil over the smoke point completely changes it and suddenly something that was healthy is now totally unhealthy. Did I miss that somewhere? So for frying you would NOT want to use avocado oil. I have to admit I’m a little confused by the diagram. I get cooking oils are on the far right but I saw avocado oil over there.

Hi Annette. We didn’t specifically address what happens after you pass the smoke point, but the oils are generally sorted from low to high as you move from left to right. Avocado Oil has one of the highest smoke points (actually I think it’s the highest) of any oil on the chart — 520 Fahrenheit — which is why it’s all the way over on the right.

Oh, I should point out the “Not to scale” in the lower right — The positions of the oils are approximate, as this isn’t a numerical graph. Apricot Kernel Oil’s smoke point is about 495F, so it should actually be over to the left a bit more, but there wasn’t room because of the other oils. Pretty sure those 25 degrees aren’t going to make-or-break anything, though! 😉